Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Harriet Jacobs
Katja
ENGL 48A
Journal #18, Jacobs
22 November 2006
"Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own." (Harriet Jacobs 1770)
The excerpt from Harriet Jacobs’ 1861 Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, zeroes in on Jacobs’ own ideas about the role of women, specifically enslaved women.
Jacobs suggests that the torturous life of a female slave is compounded by the fact that she is a woman. The very essence of being female is inextricably linked to hardship and suffering, and not only that but being female is also a source of shame and disgrace. Doubtlessly, this has to do with women’s additional responsibility towards the health and well-being of other people, namely their children. The emotional and psychological burden of bearing babies but not "owning" them, not being able to provide for them, not being able to educate them, must crush these women’s spirits like millstones.
Mothers are naturally imprinted to love their little creatures, however the very reasons for their existence may be hard to accept. Living in an environment rife with sexual violence could turn the most caring mother against her own kin. For a slave like Jacobs there was likely very little choice involved in any step of her sexual career, from first blush to ultimate rape.
Incidents shows that although a slave, Jacobs had a lot of spunk. She speaks of sexuality, attraction and a woman’s right to take lovers as she pleases. She professes the need for a real kind love, unfettered by slavery. Stating "there is something akin to freedom in having a lover who has no control over you" (1767), Jacobs means, perhaps, that such a love would liberate women from the additional burdens afforded them by slavery.
The link is to an image of the original runaway advertisement for Harriet Jacobs, issued by Dr. James Norcom.
Sources: http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=harriet+jacobs&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8 (search)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1541b.html (image)
ENGL 48A
Journal #18, Jacobs
22 November 2006
"Slavery is terrible for men; but it is far more terrible for women. Superadded to the burden common to all, they have wrongs, and sufferings, and mortifications peculiarly their own." (Harriet Jacobs 1770)
The excerpt from Harriet Jacobs’ 1861 Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, zeroes in on Jacobs’ own ideas about the role of women, specifically enslaved women.
Jacobs suggests that the torturous life of a female slave is compounded by the fact that she is a woman. The very essence of being female is inextricably linked to hardship and suffering, and not only that but being female is also a source of shame and disgrace. Doubtlessly, this has to do with women’s additional responsibility towards the health and well-being of other people, namely their children. The emotional and psychological burden of bearing babies but not "owning" them, not being able to provide for them, not being able to educate them, must crush these women’s spirits like millstones.
Mothers are naturally imprinted to love their little creatures, however the very reasons for their existence may be hard to accept. Living in an environment rife with sexual violence could turn the most caring mother against her own kin. For a slave like Jacobs there was likely very little choice involved in any step of her sexual career, from first blush to ultimate rape.
Incidents shows that although a slave, Jacobs had a lot of spunk. She speaks of sexuality, attraction and a woman’s right to take lovers as she pleases. She professes the need for a real kind love, unfettered by slavery. Stating "there is something akin to freedom in having a lover who has no control over you" (1767), Jacobs means, perhaps, that such a love would liberate women from the additional burdens afforded them by slavery.
The link is to an image of the original runaway advertisement for Harriet Jacobs, issued by Dr. James Norcom.
Sources: http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=harriet+jacobs&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8 (search)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1541b.html (image)
# posted by Katja @ 8:53 PM 
